Chapter 2

5 years later

Sakura woke up to the sound of somebody talking over her. She blinked, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. Half expecting it to be Tomoyo, her very good friend, she was only a little surprised to see a man. Any other highschool girl would have panicked if she woke to find a strange man hovering over her while she slept, but Sakura knew right away that the man was a spirit, and meant no harm.

"Good morning." she said kindly, sitting up. She listened to him, and chatted, and when he asked if he could come back later she kindly agreed. Then, she got ready for school, brushing her hair, and putting on her uniform.

Downstairs, her older brother Touya was just finishing up breakfast. He'd already finished highschool, and was in college now, staying with them until he finished.

"Hey." he greeted her, and she smiled.

"Good morning, Onii-chan."

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." another voice said kindly, and she turned to smile at Yukito, her brother's silver haired and bespecled boyfriend.

"Good morning, Yukito-san."

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, as she sat down at the table.

"Hmm. I think so. I don't remember very well. I think…" she smiled, as her dreams from the night before came back to her. "I think I dreamed about Syaoran-kun."

As was expected of him, her older brother frowned, turning toward her.

"That brat? You still like him?"

"Of course." she said, digging into her food. Her feelings for Syaoran hadn't wavered since the day he'd left, even though they hadn't kept in contact. She still remembered his last words, and was holding on to them, knowing Syaoran would never lie.

Yukito smiled. "I'm sure you'll see him again soon, Sakura-chan." he said, and Sakura nodded hopefully. Their conversation seemed to trigger something in her older brother, who put down his fork and said, "Oh yeah. You had a phone call this morning."

Sakura looked up. "From Tomoyo-chan?" It wasn't unlike her best friend to call early in the morning, usually to just chat.

Touya shook his head.

"Eh?" Sakura didn't think any of her other classmates or friends even had her phone number, so who could it be?

"It was Meiling. That brat's cousin."

"Meiling-chan!?" Sakura gasped, jumping up in her seat. She hadn't heard from the other girl in just as long. "What did she say?"

"She said she had something to tell you, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She said it had to be told to you." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. On it was a phone number.

"She said to call her back as soon as you could."

Sakura took the paper in her hands, smiling down at it. This had to be a sign. Just last night, she'd dreamed of Syaoran, and now, Meiling had called. Even if he wasn't coming home, this was surely the first step in getting back in touch with the boy she loved.

"Sakura-chan, school's starting soon." Yukito said, looking at the clock. Sakura gasped, realizing he was right. She didn't have much time. She was late to school often though, mostly because spirits were always wanting to talk for a long time when she woke up.

"I better go!" she said, running over to put on her shoes. Touya came up behind her, pulling on a jacket.

"I'll give you a ride."

She smiled. "Thanks, Onii-chan."

Yukito followed them outside, as he always did when Sakura rode Touya's motorcycle.

"Hold on to Touya tightly." he said, just like he always did.

"I will." Sakura responded, as she put on the pink helmet that Touya had bought for her. Her brother got on, and she slipped on behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Be careful, Touya." Yukito said worriedly. No matter how much time passed, he never relaxed when it came to the motorcycle. It wasn't that he didn't trust Touya's driving skills, he just didn't trust other drivers.

"I know."

Sakura giggled as the two boys kissed lightly. They'd been together almost three years, but Sakura never got over how cute they were together. They peeled out of the driveway, and Yukito waved them off. Sakura had a feeling he probably waited there until Touya came back.

When they got to the high school, luckily, nobody was around. It was forbidden to ride motorcycles to school, and while Sakura technically wasn't the one driving it, she had a feeling being on the back of one still counted.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" Touya asked, taking the helmet that Sakura offered back to him. She shook out her head, eliminating all signs of helmet hair, then shook it again, this time in reply to her brother's question.

"I like the walk."

Touya knew that, but he always still offered.

Once her brother was gone, Sakura headed in, quickly running into her classroom, where roll had already been called.

Mr. Tereda looked up, then smiled as he added her name to the roster. "A little late Sakura. I hate to think what might have happened if your brother wasn't there to drive you."

Her classroom had a perfect view of the school entrance, so her classmates and Mr. Tereda knew her and her brother's secret. Nobody said anything though, and Sakura loved them for it.

At lunch, she was joined by Tomoyo, and her other friends, Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari, and it was only then that she remembered her good news. She quickly filled them in, and Tomoyo smiled. They'd all been told time and again about Syaoran, so they didn't need to be told why Meiling calling would be such a good thing.

"That's wonderful!" Tomoyo said, clapping her hands together.

"Do you think Syaoran-kun might be back in town then?" Himawari asked.

"I hope so."

"Well, at the very least, you'll be able to talk with him now, right?" Watanuki said, and Sakura nodded, smiling to herself. This was a good day.

"Are you gonna call?" Doumeki asked, and Watanuki gave him a look like it was the stupidest question ever asked.

"Of course she is. Why wouldn't she?"

The tall boy shrugged, swallowing another mouthful before he answered. "People change. Sometimes it's better not to see how."

Sakura smiled, because even though it was hard to tell, Doumeki was worried about her, and what might happen if she saw Syaoran again after all this time and he'd changed in ways that weren't for the better.

"Don't worry, Doumeki-san. Syaoran isn't the kind of guy who would change in a bad way."

"If he is back, you have to introduce us!" Tomoyo said.

"Of course!"

Over Himawari's shoulder, Sakura noticed a young boy, who was only about eight years old. He obviously wasn't a high schooler, so Sakura knew right away he must be a spirit.

"Do you guys see that boy there?" she asked, just to be sure. All four of them knew about her ability, and none of them doubted it. This was for two reasons. First, they were true friends who would never believe she was lying.

Two, Watanuki could see them too.

"Nope." Himawari said, and Doumeki shook his head too.

"Yeah." Watanuki said sadly, and she and the lanky boy stood up to go and approach him.

*(*)

When school ended, Sakura went home alone. Most of the time, Tomoyo walked with her, but today was choir practice, so Sakura was on her own.

"Sakura-chan!" a loud and familiar voice called, and Sakura turned, smiling at the blonde man running up to her.

"Hello, Fai-san." she greeted, and her neighbor came to a stop next to her. He was carrying an armful of bags, so it wasn't hard to guess where he was coming from. Fai had lived next door to her family for about two years now, along with another man named Kurogane. They were both older than her, at around twenty-four, but Fai was easy to hang out with.

"How was school?" he asked, and Sakura told him about her day, before launching into her news from that morning.

She'd told Fai and Kurogane about Syaoran too.

"That's great, Sakura-chan." Fai said. "Now you can finally tell him how you feel."

She blushed, but nodded. She'd waited a long time for this, and if she had any chance, she needed to take it.

"Hopefully I'll finally get to meet your knight in shining armor."

"I hope so."

Their conversation was cut short when a black car pulled up beside them. Sakura recognized it. The window rolled down, and Kurogane peered out from the inside.

"Kuro-pii!" Fai exclaimed excitedly, like he didn't live with the darker man. Sakura had been observing the two men since the day they'd moved in, and she still wasn't sure what their relationship was. They seemed very close, and she had a feeling they were more than friends. But it was hard to tell since sometimes she also saw Kurogane chasing Fai around the front yard, screaming at him.

"Get in." the gruff man said, and to people who didn't know him, it would probably look like he was threatening them. But Sakura knew it was just him offering to drive them home. He was probably coming home from work. Or maybe he'd just come looking for Fai.

"Yay!" Fai said, opening the passenger side door. "Road trip with Kuro-sama!"

"Idiot, we live five blocks from here." After he'd addressed Fai, he turned to Sakura. "Want a ride?"

Sakura shook her head, turning them down politely. "I enjoy the walk."

"Want to come over for dinner, Sakura-chan?" Fai asked, leaning over Kurogane to talk to her again. "You can bring Touya-kun and your father too. And Yukito-chan if he's there too."

"Okay." Sakura agreed. She didn't need to ask the rest of her family for confirmation. They liked Fai's cooking so much that sometimes they'd abandon the dinner they'd just finished or where in the middle of making, just to eat his instead.

"Great!"

"Get off me." Kurogane said, shoving the blonde man off. "See ya later, kid." he said to Sakura, and then they were off.

Sakura walked along, and was only a few minutes away from her home when a strong breeze blew through. She yelped, holding her skirt down. Her action opened her bag, and a few papers were blown away in the breeze.

"Oh no." Sakura gasped, and then she ran around, trying to gather up her papers. There was one in the middle of the street, and even though she didn't know for sure that it was important, she didn't want to risk it. She looked left and right, and once she'd deemed it safe, she ran into the street, quickly scooping up the paper. She straightened up, then looked around, trying to spot her next paper.

She saw one across the street, sitting on the sidewalk, and since the cost was still clear, she ran to get it. But just as she was about to grab it, another hand came out of nowhere and beat her to it. She was a little surprised, because she hadn't seen anybody in sight when she first saw the paper, but was thankful non-the-less.

"Thank you very-" her sentence was cut off the moment she laid eyes on the person who had grabbed her paper for her. It was a boy, and even though it had been five years, she recognized him instantly. He had the same wild brown hair, the same gentle eyes, and the same smile.

She knew because he was smiling at her.

"Syaoran...kun?" she whispered, hardly daring to believe it. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes. The boy's smile widened, and he nodded.

"Sakura-chan. I told you I'd come back."

Without thinking, or a moment's hesitation, she launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. "I can't believe it! I can't believe you're here!"

He hugged her back, and Sakura felt tears hit her shoulder. He was crying too. "I missed you Sakura-chan. I thought about you everyday."

"Me too." she whispered, pulling back to see his face better. He gazed back, taking in her features too.

"It's weird." he said. "You've changed so much, but you still look exactly the same."

"I know just what you mean."

They stepped out of their hug, and instantly, Sakura held out her hand, offering it to him. She saw him hesitate for just a second. But then he reached out, wrapping his fingers around hers. His touch was a little a little colder than the one she remembered but she ignored it.

For most of the walk, they talked about the things that had happened to them over the last five years. He told her about the school he'd gone too, and the friends he'd made, his closest ones being a boy named Ryuo and a girl named Yuzuriha. She told him about her friends, and then they moved onto their families. Syaoran smiled when she told him that Touya and Yukito were dating, and when he did, she knew again, even though she'd never doubted it, that she still loved him.

They went in circles around the neighborhood for almost two hours, catching up and keeping their hands interlocked. They way that they laughed and talked was like he'd never gone away at all.

Finally, they exhausted their topics of conversation. This was when Sakura smiled and said, "This was what Meiling-chan wanted to tell me then."

She was jerked to a stop, and looked back. Syaoran had stopped walking, and his face was pale.

"Meiling? She called?"

"Y-yes?" Sakura replied, feeling suddenly uncertain. "This morning. Onii-chan answered the phone though, so I didn't get to talk to her. I was supposed to call her back when I got home from school. She had something to tell me. And now, I know what it was!" She smiled, hoping it would make him feel better.

To her relief, he did seem to relax, and continued walking. "Yeah. She was calling to tell you, even though I told her it was suppossed to be a surprise."

Sakura laughed. "And it was! I couldn't believe it! I thought I must be dreaming."

He smiled at her, and she saw something in his eyes. A hint of sadness. It quickly went away a moment later, before she could even confirm it.

"I'm going over to Fai-san's house tonight." She'd told him about Fai and Kurogane too. "Would you like to join me? I know how much Fai-san is dying to meet you."

"Oh...uh, sorry, but I'm really tired. I've got a lot of unpacking to do too, so it would probably be better for now if I went home."

"Unpacking?" Sakura squealed happily. "Syaoran-kun, you're moving back to town!?" She'd only thought he was visiting, it had never even occurred that he was moving back permanently. The moment the words were out of her mouth, Syaoran looked like he regretted saying it, but just like before, the look was gone too quickly to be sure.

"For a while, anyway." he said, and they came to a stop. "But uh, tell them I said hi. Your father and brother too. And Yukito-san. I really missed them."

"'I will. Please come visit soon though."

He nodded. "I will."

Overcome by joy, Sakura hugged him. This time, she noticed his face flare red. Hers flared back in response, but she didn't pull away for a few more seconds.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Of course."

They finally went their seperate ways, and Sakura quickly found her way home. Her brother, Yukito, and her father were sitting in the living room, drinking tea and eating snacks, and looked up in surprise when she threw the door open.

"Syaoran-kun is back!" she said before any of them could even get a word out.

Yukito gasped and her father stood up, "Really!?"

"Yes! I ran into him on my way home!"

Touya rolled his eyes, but Sakura could tell that he was joking when he said, "There goes the end of my happiness." She knew that, truthfully, her brother had missed Syaoran too.

"Why didn't he come home with you?" Fujitaka asked. "I would have made food, and loved to see him again."

"He had to get home to unpack, but he told me to tell you that he missed you guys. I'm sure he'll visit soon."

There was a knock on the door. It was Fai. He'd finished cooking, and they quickly moved the party over to his and Kurogane's house. Sakura smiled throughout all of dinner, and Fai teased her the whole time. She didn't mind though.

Because she just knew it had to be the start of a whole new chapter with Syaoran.