Finally finished it! I'm so excited for all of you to read this! No more talking, just read.

Syaoran's POV

While waiting for the family doctor to finish his examination of Sakura, I pace the living room. Sakura is currently laying on the couch in the middle of the room. After what feels like forever the doctor finally stands up and turns to me.

"It looks like she just overworked herself. She has a fever, but put a damp towel on her forehead and it should go down. Most importantly, she needs to rest," he informs me.

"Alright. Thank you." Wei sees the man out, while I head to the kitchen to put some ice in a bowl. I fill the bowl with water before heading back into the living room and setting it down on the table in front of the couch. As I go to fetch a washcloth, I wonder what Sakura would be saying if she were awake. Probably some nonsense about being perfectly fine.

Washcloth in hand, I reenter the living room. I get the cloth damp and turn to Sakura. Her face is strained as I reach out and brush her bangs from her forehead. Carefully laying the cloth down, I find myself staring at her.

When awake, Sakura is always trying to either pick a fight with me or avoid me. I haven't been able to look at her like this since we were children. She would've pushed me away by now if she were awake.

I want to sit and stare at her for a while longer, but pull myself up and head to the kitchen. Time to call the infamous Touya Kinomoto.

Nobody answers the phone when I call the Kinomoto household, so I leave a message. Oddly enough, over five hours later, at ten o'clock, there's still no call back. I'm starting to get a little worried. I don't really want to have Sakura here all night- not because I don't want to have to watch over her, but if she wakes up when I'm not in the room, she'll probably freak out. Come to think of it, even if I am in the room she'll probably still freak out.

After a quick phone call with Chiharu, I decide to wait in the living room for a while, and if Sakura doesn't wake up, I'll just pull out the futon and sleep on the floor. Wei already went to bed, so I turned out most of the lights. The living room lights are off, leaving the only source of light to be what's leaking into the room from the kitchen.

Eventually I get bored just sitting there, so I get up and grab a book to read until I can't stay awake any longer. I make sure to flick on the lamp in the corner of the room so that I don't kill my eyesight trying read in the dark. Cracking the book open, I sit down in front of the couch near Sakura's feet and lean back. It's a little awkward reading knowing that there's an unconscious girl behind me, but I try not to think too much about that.

I don't know how long I've reading when my eyelids start to get heavy. After setting the book down on the table, I go to fetch the futon and two blankets. On my way back into the room I turn off the lamp. I walk over to Sakura with one of the blankets and lay it over her sleeping form. She seems to be having a nightmare, because she's making these little whimpers every so often. Almost makes me want to wake her up, but I fight back the urge.

I set the futon down perpendicular to the sofa and lay down so that my head is close to the table. This way I just have to open my eyes, look down, and I've got a good view of Sakura.

Sleep, sleep, sleep. Damn it! I can't fall asleep if she keeps on making noise. Every time I hear her, I find my eyes opening to look at her. I don't know why, though; She's not doing anything. Well, she's starting to shift uncomfortably, but other than that nothing. I wonder if she's about to wake up.

Finally giving up on sleep, I sit up and glare at her. There's no reason for it- it's not like I'm mad at her or anything. Then I see her lips move. Does she talk in her sleep? I lean in closer and strain to her what she's saying. At first all I hear is little sh sound, but then I start to make out something else. A single word- only it's not a word. It's a name. My name.

"Syaoran." It comes out on a wispy exhale.

I feel my heart skip a beat. Am I dreaming? Did I fall asleep on the futon without even realizing it? But, then why is the dream so incredibly vivid. All of my senses kick in on high power. I can see every crease in Sakura's smooth skin as she frowns; Hear every inhale and exhale of breath that passes her soft pink lips; Smell the scent of intoxicatingly sweet shampoo from her honey brown locks; Feel the warmth of my cheeks and the pounding against my chest; Taste the last bits of saliva as my mouth dries up. Nope. Definitely not dreaming.

Sakura's POV

Ugh. I feel like crap. What the heck happened to me? I open my eyes. Why is it so dark? I blink a few times. Where am I? I push myself up. On a coach, apparently. This doesn't look like the couch in my house, though. There's a blanket over me, which I pull off, and I swing my legs over the edge. As I stand, something falls from my forehead, but I don't bother trying bending down to retrieve. Even though there aren't any lights on, I can tell I'm not at my house.

Half-asleep, I turn and take a few steps forward, only to have my foot catch on something and I go tumbling to the ground. My body hits the cold hardwood floor with a loud thud.

"What the hell?" A groggy and startled voice comes from behind me, and something under my legs jerks up.

I accidentally squeak. "Who's there?" There's a shadowy figure sitting to my left on the ground. I try to make out the face, but my eyes are still too tired.

I hear a groan. "Geez, Kinomoto! What the hell is the matter with you?" Huh? That voice... It can't be. Don't tell me- "Calm down, it's me; Syaoran." How am I supposed to calm down knowing that? I watch Syaoran's outline fall back onto the floor, letting out a sigh.

"Li? What are you doing here?" I pull my legs off of his and crawl up next to him.

"This is my apartment."

"What," I scream. "Then why am I here?"

My eyes are starting to get used to being awake and in the dark, so I can see when Syaoran turns his head to look at me. "Don't you remember?" Remember? My heart pounds against my chest.

"Remember what?" Did I do something? Did he do something? Okay, Syaoran wouldn't do anything, but what the hell is going on?

He pushes himself up again, this time standing up all the way. "Hold on a minute." He crosses the room and I can't tell what he's doing until there's a clicking sound, and at the same time a bright light fills the room. I wince away, covering my eyes.

"Warning next time, please." By the time I'm able to look up again, he's gone. "Um, Li?" No response. "Li," I call out louder this time. Silence. I'm about to call out again when he suddenly reappears carrying a glass of ice water.

He crosses the room to me, and hands me the glass. I have so many questions, like why I woke up on a couch in Syaoran's apartment with Syaoran himself laying on the floor next to me, yet here he is just handing me a glass of water. He's way too calm.

I look at the water in his hand and back up to him. "It's not poisoned. I promise." That thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

I reach out and take the water from his hand, muttering a soft, "thanks."

"You're welcome."

I avoid eye contact while sipping from the glass. Out of the corner of my eye I make note of what he's wearing. Green t-shirt and black exercise shorts. I never see him out of his school uniform, so I the sight of him in casual cloths makes my heart race. Now red, I basically chug the icy water in attempt to cool my face down.

I hear Syaoran's footsteps moving away from me, and when I look again he's sitting on the couch watching me. The way he looks at me nearly makes me choke. Why is he looking at me like that? I shift uncomfortably under his intense stare.

"You going to tell me what happened?" Thankfully, the question makes him break his stare.

"Right. So, yesterday afternoon you passed out in front of the school."

"Yester-" Okay, now I'm actually choking. I lean forward, coughing violently into my arm. Before I even see him move, Syaoran is kneeling next to me, taking the glass and putting a hand on my back.

When my coughs have subsided, he asks, "you good?" to which I simply nod. "It's a little past midnight right now, so technically it's Saturday." Midnight? Feeling light headed, and way too close to the amber eyed boy next to me, I push myself onto the couch, and hug the pillow I was sleeping on to my stomach as I draw up my legs. Syaoran, too, moves back to the couch, but he sits on the opposite side.

"Anyways, I was right in front of you at the time, so I called Wei to get the car, and brought you back here. I also had the family doctor look at you." He leans forward and sets the glass down between us on the table.

"Doctor? Look at me?" I pull the pillow tighter against my body. "What do you mean?"

Seeing my reaction, Syaoran quickly brings his hands up to tell me I'm wrong. "Not like that!" He seems alarmed that I would even think something like it, but I was unconscious. "He checked your temperature and pulse, and stuff like that. I assure you, you were fully clothed the entire time."

"Oh," I say, relieved and a little embarrassed for suggesting otherwise. I feel myself relax, and Syaoran lowers his hands. "I guess all that makes sense, but I still don't understand why I just woke up in your apartment in the middle of the night. And were you sleeping on the futon?" Seriously, I wanna know why he was sleeping on the floor.

"I thought I just explained that." He yawns, and rests his arm against the back of the couch, using it to support his head. "I called your house, but nobody picked up. Then I left a message, and never heard back." His voice is still drowsy.

The way he's just sitting there with his head tilted sideways, leaning casually against the couch, makes me even more on edge. It's like we're close friends and the situation is totally normal. Which it's not. I woke up in a guy's apartment, and don't remember how I got here. Need I say more? I'm freaking out!

Maybe I'm just imagining all of this- although why I would imagine something this messed up is beyond me. At least it's Syaoran that found me. Better him than some random stranger who might- I don't wanna think about that! As much as I rag on him, Syaoran is a trustworthy person. Reliable- not so much- but trustworthy? Yeah, I know it contradicts itself, seeing how they basically mean the same thing, but- believe me- Syaoran can't be relied on as far as being there for a friend goes.

The sound of Syaoran's voice pulls me back to reality.

"As for why I was sleeping on the floor," he begins. Oh, this part I gotta hear. "I was going to sleep in my room, but then it occurred to me that you might wake up during the night- which you did- and then start freaking out." Still freaking out. "I slept here so than if you woke up you'd see me and hopefully not start screaming. Or at the very least you wouldn't think you'd been abducted or something like that. I just didn't want you doing anything reckless."

"What exactly did you think I would do? Go into your kitchen and pull out a knife?"

He shrugs. "Never know with you. One minute you'll be yelling and throwing things-" okay, that was once- "and the next, you'll be calmly sleeping as though nothing ever happened."

"You had that coming."

"I called you by your name, not something offensive or rude."

"I thought you figured out a long time ago not to call me by my given name."

"Yeah, I did. Were you not paying attention all those times I called you Kinomoto?"

"Ugh, never mind. We shouldn't even be talking about this." I told myself I wasn't going to bring up the past with him, but here I am doing it again.

He rolls his eyes. "Of course. You just don't want to have to talk about what happened."

"It's history now, there's nothing to talk about."

Syaoran shakes his head. "You're wrong about that, but now's not the time. I'm way too tired to argue with you right now. Being woken up in the middle of the night to someone tripping over me has left me rather drained."

Syaoran stands up and walks back to the futon.

"You should go back to sleep, too. You're still sick," he says, pulling back the blanket on the futon, and sitting down. "Leave the lamp on or turn it off, up to you."

"You're still going to sleep there? I know where I am now; You can go to your room, you know."

"I know, I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with leaving you here unsupervised."

He speaks from his position under the blanket, where he lays with his back turned to me.

I simply grumble and get up to turn off the light, stepping over him on my way. When I figure out where the switch is, I flip it and the room becomes dark again. I use the light from down the hall to find my way back to the sofa. Even with the light, I still have to feel in front of me with my foot to avoid stepping on Syaoran. When my foot comes in contact with the futon, I carefully step over it, being sure to feel where I'm winding up.

"Couldn't you have picked a better spot to lay?"

I can barely hear him grumble something under his breath. Clearly he's too out of it to for a proper response.

I just roll my eyes and lay back down on the sofa, pulling the blanket over me in the process. Even though I close my eyes and try to fall asleep, I can't. It's stressful knowing that there's an attractive guy sleeping on the floor a few feet away from me. Be he someone I know well or not, it doesn't matter. Looks like I might be laying here awake for a little while.

Touya's POV

"Sakura!" Where is that little monster?

I just got back from Yuki's grandparent's house. They needed help moving some old furniture, and I ended up crashing there for the night. Now I've gotta find the little monster before she heads out for work.

Passing by the land line, I see it blinking out of the corner of my eye. I reach out and press the button to play the message. Who knows, maybe Sakura called and left a message.

"Hi, this is Li Syaoran," a male voice says from the other end. Immediately I go tense. Li Syaoran? That name is way too familiar for my liking. It's the name of that brat who used to be my Sakura's friend before he abandoned her. I glare at the receiver as the voice, 'Syaoran', continues speaking. "I'm calling to let you know that Sakura is here with me at my apartment right now."

"What," I scream, grabbing the whole base, and pulling it to my face, glaring at it.

"She collapsed on the way out of school, so I brought her back to my apartment. She's sleeping right now. When you get this, call me. Thanks."

The recording comes to an end, and I basically toss the object in my hands back onto the counter so that I can pace across the room.

Collapsed? Damn it, Sakura, how many times have I told you not to overwork yourself?

Hold up. That was from yesterday. Sakura's still not back... What the hell did that brat do to my little sister?

I waste no time before grabbing the phone and dialing the number on the answering machine. The beeps pass by all too slowly.

Finally, after a few rings, someone picks up.

"This is the Li residence." The voice is raspy and deep. Too old to be the brat.

"This is Touya Kinomoto, Sakura Kinomoto's brother. I received a message saying that she's there." I keep myself polite. As I recall, the brat is pretty rich. I must be talking to the butler. Even though I'm pissed as hell, I decide to leave the poor old man alone. He probably suffers enough at the hands of that brat.

"Yes, please wait a moment."

I stand, tapping my foot impatiently, while there's silence on the other end.

After a minute, someone speaks on the other end. About time, too.

"Li Syaoran speaking." The voice from the answering machine reaches my ears.

"You brat!" I allow my polite facade to crumble. "What the hell have you done with my sister?" No more Mr. Nice-guy.

"Sakura's here, but she's sleeping." He remains calm, which just pisses me off even more.

"That message was from yesterday!"

"She slept all through yesterday, and woke up just after midnight, only to fall back asleep soon after. Right now she's sleeping on my couch. I didn't think it would be smart to send her home if nobody was there, especially since she still has a slight fever."

"Well I'm here now, so where the hell is she?"

"If you want, I can get the car to drop her off."

"No!" That would mean he'd have to get her into the car, too. No way do I want him putting his hands on my sister. "I'll come get her. Give me the address."

There's a pause before the brat agrees and gives me the address.

"You better not try anything funny before I get there, Li." I hang up the phone, and immediately race out the door.

Sakura's POV

Eggs. I smell eggs. Even in my half asleep state, I'm still vaguely aware of what it is. My nose involuntarily twitches. Ah, that smells good.

In a trance, I feel my legs carrying me towards the smell. Even as my eyes peek open to see where my feet are stepping, I'm still not entirely sure what's going on. Why am I moving? I don't know, but I do know that I have to find the source of that smell. Then I have to devour it. The thought of eating makes my mouth water. When did I get so hungry?

Finally, after shuffling down a hallway, and entering the room where the smell is coming from, I lazily lift my head to find myself in the kitchen. In front of me, standing in by the stove with a frying pan in one hand, and a spatula in the other, is Syaoran Li. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember the events of earlier this morning.

"Are you feeling any better?" He doesn't even turn.

"How did you-" I stop when he glances over his shoulder and gives me a look that tells me I should already know the answer; Which I do. Well, I kind of know, I guess. I assume it's from marital arts training, but I'm not sure exactly how he does it. Not that it really matters.

Dropping the topic, I walk up to him and peer into the pan. My eyes light up. "Is that..."

"Yep," he says, flipping over the contents of the pan. "I hope you still like omelets, because we're fresh out of pancake batter." With the flick of the wrist, the stove shuts off.

"Just a bit," I confess. It's a totally understatement. Omelets are one of my favorite foods, second only to pancakes. Damn you, Syaoran, for knowing my weakness! Then again... I am going to get to eat it, right?

"So, I just got a call from your brother."

I'm not really listening to him right now. I watch, practically drooling, while he dishes out the omelet onto a plate.

"Did you?"

He sets the pan into the sink, and walks to the dining room, plate in hand. I trail closely behind him.

"Yeah, he's going to stop by and pick you up soon."

"You don't say." The plate is on the table now.

"Are you even listening to me?" I force my gaze up to his face.

"Huh?"

He shakes his head. "No, of course not." How does he expect me to listen to him when I'm starving, and my second favorite food is sitting on the table in front of me? His expectations are way too high.

I know he's given up when he sighs in defeat, and pulls out the chair from the table. "Go ahead and dig in."

Don't need to tell me twice. I'm in the chair, holding utensils in a flash. The food is in my mouth in a matter of seconds.

Wow, I totally forgot how good of a cook Syaoran was- or I suppose is. This omelet is mouth watering! I can't help but smile like a little kid while I eat it.

Syaoran leaves the room for a moment and returns with a glass of water which he sets down in front of me. He then proceeds to take a seat diagonal from me at the head of the table. I begin to feel self conscious when he lays his head in the palm of his hand and watches me. The pace at which I eat slows down, and I spend an excruciatingly long amount of time just cutting the food. At first I keep my eyes trained downwards at the cooked-to-perfection omelet, and then I finally give up and face Syaoran head on.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat."

He doesn't look away, but says, "you weren't listening when I told you earlier, but your brother is stopping by to pick you up."

I nearly choke, something that has been happening to me far too frequently since I got here. "What? When?"

"I got off the phone with him around ten minutes ago, so he should be here any time now. Might want to eat that a little faster if you want to finish it in time." He nods to the plate of food in front of me.

I waste no time replying. Syaoran's cooking is way too good to let go to waste. His cooking skills are on par with my dad's. The two best cooks I know, and I've been deprived of both's food for the past seven years of my life. Only reason I'd want to be Syaoran's friend again: I'd get to eat the food he makes.

Hold up. He's still watching me! "Could you look somewhere else, please?" Yeah, that's not really a question. "I'm eating, and you're just sitting there staring at me like a total creep."

He must not have realized he it himself, because he abruptly pulls his face from its relaxed position in his hand. Blinking a few times, he averts his gaze.

"Better," I mumble before taking another bite.

As I munch on the rest of the omelet, Syaoran reaches into his pant pocket and pulls out a sleek black cell phone. I can't help envy him a little as he flips it open and starts making small clicking sounds as he types. Stupid rich people phones. Mine is this old, dull gray phone that used to be Touya's. The only reason I even have a phone is because Touya doesn't want me wandering the streets at night on my way home from work with no way of calling for help if- heaven forbid- I need to.

I angrily stab my fork into the omelet, glad to be using western utensils rather than chopsticks. Can't stab something very effectively with chopsticks.

Syaoran's eyes rise with at clinking of the metal. He watches suspiciously while I just chomp down on the soft eggs in my mouth. After a few seconds, he looks back down at his phone and finishes typing, then flips the phone shut. Shoving it back into his pocket, he rises from his seat.

"You done with that?"

When I look down at the plate, I'm surprised to find it empty. Wow. I ate it all without even realizing. With a disappointed nod, Syaoran lifts the plate and exits the room.

I follow behind him and while he sets the plate into the sink, I can't help but ask, "do you live here alone?"

"No. Wei still lives here, but he's usually out."

Wei? In my mind, I picture the old man gray haired man with his wire glasses that have a chain hanging from them, similar to a monocle.

"Where is he?"

Syaoran turns around and leans against the counter. "He left while you were still asleep to pick up some things from the market."

"Oh." I nod and shuffle sideways towards the doorway leading out of the kitchen.

Seeing this, Syaoran looks amused. "What are doing?"

Trying to leave before this gets awkward; What else?

I'm still trying to think of something to say when a loud banging echos through the once quiet apartment. It makes me jump a bit, and I hold a hand to my racing heart.

"What the hell?" I choke out. "What was that?" Multiple loud bangs follow.

"Your brother, I assume." Syaoran pushes himself away from the counter and walks past me out of the kitchen. I follow closely behind him.

This time when there's a pause I can hear shouting from the other side of the door. "Open up the door, you brat!" Touya's voice is so loud that I worry he's going to wake up the whole entire building.

Thankfully, Syaoran reaches the door and swings it open before Touya can make any more racket.

On the other side, standing with his fist poised to start knocking again, is my loud-mouth brother. Touya stops and glares at Syaoran, who glares back as if to challenge him. Don't encourage him, Syaoran!

"Li, where the hell is my little sister?" he demands. Meanwhile, I'm standing a few feet behind Syaoran. How can he possibly not notice me?

"I'm literally standing right here." He looks at me and Syaoran steps out of the way before Touya can shove him aside. Touya walks up to me and grabs my upper arm.

"Damn it, Sakura; What is this I hear about you collapsing? I've told you a million times not to push yourself." He brings his hand up and feels my forehead.

"I'm fine, Touya."

"She's still got a slight fever." Looking past my overly concerned brother, I can see Syaoran watching us.

Touya ignores him. "Clearly you aren't fine, or else we wouldn't be here. Speaking of which, how the hell did you end up with him of all people?" Touya gestures to where Syaoran stands watching us by the door.

"What's that supposed to mean, 'him of all people'?" Touya glares over his shoulder at Syaoran.

"You know damn well what it means. I don't want you anywhere near my sister; You got that, Li?"

Syaoran is about to retaliate, but I cut in. "Knock it off, you two!" I say it in as firm of a voice as I can manage.

Neither one speaks for a moment, then Touya makes a tsk sound. "Come on, Sakura, we're leaving." He pulls me past Syaoran to the other side of the doorway.

"Wait!" I shove my heels into the ground. "I have to get my bag."

Touya looks at me for a moment, then lets go and crosses his arms. "Make it quick."

I nod, before turning and running back to the apartment. Syaoran looks surprised when I slip through the door he's about to close.

"My bag," I state, running back into the living room and picking up my brown school bag from the coffee table.

On my way back out, I pause in front of Syaoran, who is holding the door open for me. He raises his eyebrows and waits for me to speak. My mouth opens. "Um-" Syaoran watches at me intently. I struggle to get the words out. "Thanks," I manage. "For everything."

A warm smile spreads across Syaoran's face, and I feel my heart race. "Anytime, Kinomoto."

I don't know want to try interpreting his words, so I rush through the door and follow my brother the rest of the way home with him lecturing me. Still, in the back of my mind, I can hear a tiny voice asking, what does he mean by that?

During the night I'm plagued by memories of the past.

My feet pound against the tile floor of the airport as fast as my heart, while I try to reach security before it's too late.

The security area comes into view and my eyes easily find their target. They first land on the tall gray haired man in a suit, and then flick down to the young boy by his side.

"Syaoran," I cry out. The boy turns and his eyes go wide as platters.

"Sakura?"

I slam into him full force and we both go tumbling onto the ground, me on top of him.

"You idiot!" I pound weakly against his chest. Tears threaten to spill from the corners of my eyes. "How could you? You were just going to leave without saying so much as goodbye? I thought we were friends."

He grabs my wrists. "Sakura, calm down." He pushes himself up until we're in a sitting position and takes my shoulders. "We are friends." He says, looking at me dead on.

I blink hard, causing tears to stream down my face. My shoulders shake under his firm grasp. "If that's true then why didn't you tell me? I could've handled it, you know!"

Syaoran close his eyes like he's in pain and says, "I know, Sakura, but I didn't think I could."

"What do you mean?" My voice trembles.

His amber eyes open and he stares at me for a moment. Finally he wraps his arms around me and says, "I didn't want to see you like this. I'm sorry, Sakura."

I grab onto the front of his shirt. "Do you have to go?"

"Yes." That one word alone breaks my heart.

"But you can't just leave. What am I going to do without you here?"

He stiffens. "Sakura." His voice is soft. "You still have Daidouji and Mihara, and Touya, he's always looking out for you; Your father, too!" He pulls away. "It's not like we'll never see each other again. You can always call me or send me an email anytime." He gives me a reassuring smile, but it's clearly forced.

"Syaoran-sama," calls a deep voice from beside us. Syaoran looks up, but I stay still. My eyes are on Syaoran's face as he says something. I faintly hear a response, but it doesn't register.

A second later Syaoran is pushing himself off the ground. I look up at him, my eyes glazed over.

Then he reaches out to offer me his hand. I stare at it. So many emotions flow through me, but only one thought. Soon this hand won't be here. Syaoran has always been like my rock, my anchor, the one I turn to when I feel like I can't do it anymore. Now he's leaving me, and I can't bring myself to take his hand.

When I don't move to take his hand, but stare up at him with tears running down my face, and my mouth turned down, I can see the regret. His look of reassurance falters.

"Sakura," he whispers. Sighing, he kneels down and looks at me with tired eyes. "Please, don't make this any more difficult than it already is for me."

I recoil. Don't make it any more difficult for him? Rage adulterates the once pure sorrow in my heart. I feel so lied to. So betrayed.

My face heats up from my anger, and when he tries to reach out again, I swat his hand away. I rise to my feet and glare down at him.

"Fine then," I shout hysterically. "I'm sorry for caring too much. I didn't mean to make this difficult for you."

He blinks, and then stands, saying, "I didn't mean it like-"

"No, of course you didn't." Venom drips from my voice. I can tell my words are cutting into him like razor blades, but shut out any emotions I feel even remotely close to pity.

"Sakura," he pleads, stepping forward and trying to take my hands. I leap back, and hold my hands to my chest as if his touch has burnt me. I can see I'm hurting him. I can see the pain in his eyes as I pull away, but I choose to ignore it.

I take a deep breath to control myself, and say in as calm a voice as I can manage, "I'm sorry. That was out of line." I turn to the old man who has been beside us the entire time. I bow. "Wei."

He nods. "Ms. Kinomoto."

I stand. "Please excuse my behavior. I hope I haven't caused too much trouble."

He looks at me sympathetically. "Not at all, young miss."

I turn back to Syaoran and bow. Standing up I look him strait in the eyes. "Have a safe flight." Then I turn and walk away. Even when I hear Syaoran calling my name, I don't turn back. I'm not sure I can.

When I wake up, I turn in bed and reach up to the ledge where my alarm clock sits. My hand wraps itself around something soft and plush. I pull it down. The stuffed animal falls onto the bed, and I press it against my chest. I clutch the precious handmade teddy bear to my chest in attempt to fill the empty void in my heart. Then I tilt my head down, and sob into its green fur.

"Syaoran." My lips tingle as they graze the tips of its fur.

Why did this have to happen to us? Why did everything have to get so messed up?

I hear my own soft whimpers, and bite my bottom lip to stop myself from making too much noise. I sniffle and press my face into my pillow to catch my tears and muffle the sobs echoing through me.

Forbidden thoughts enter my mind. Memories of the times we played and laughed together. Then memories of the times I cried in his arms. Memories of all the joy, along with the pain. All that we were. All that we could have been. All we could be.

No.

I'm getting too close. I can't allow myself to revert back. I can't lose control. I won't. There's no way I can allow him back into my heart.

There's only problem.

He never left.

So? So? So? This is my personal favorite chapter so far. Loved writing it. Hope you all loved reading it, too.

By the way, I'm going to be going more in depth about the details of what happened after Syaoran left a little later. Maybe next chapter, maybe not until the one after that. I don't know. We'll see.

Thanks for reading! See you all next week.