Note: This chapter is short. A mini-chapter in Syaoran's POV. Starts out emotional, se be prepared. It's all cheery after the first section, though.

One of my reviews came in late, so I had to change what this initially said. To Yggdra: yes, that was intentional. I'm so glad someone picked up on that. Everyone else: the glass door from last chapter was a Tsubasa reference.

Oh, and thanks for all the reviews. I figured after what I said last chapter, there would be a few more reviews, but that was insane.

Syaoran's POV

Truth be told, when Sakura asked me why I came back to Japan, I may have left out a certain something. Even though it made it impossible for me to stay aways, I still would've returned to Japan even without it. The reason I didn't mention it to Sakura was because it is Sakura.

When I left the second time to give her space, it was absolute torture. Saying I wasn't 'happy' was an understatement. As pitiful as it sounds, I was depressed. Not even all four of my crazy sisters made me feel better for more than a few minutes at a time. I don't have friends in Hong Kong like I do in Japan. Most people just saw me as the rich and powerful Li kid who didn't like socializing with others. I can't say it's not true, though. Whenever people came up to me- which wasn't very often- I would brush them off. They always went away eventually. Well, all except for Sakura. She was the first real friend I ever had aside from Wei and my cousin, Meiling.

So, was I depressed when I left her behind in Japan? Yes, I was. There's never been a time in my life that I've felt as hollow as I did back then. No matter how many times she would pass by me in the halls and ignore me, or we would cross paths and she would be rude and distant towards me, the stinging sensation it left me with was nothing in comparison to the emptiness of not seeing her at all. It was enough for me to just be able to see her. Almost anything was better than having those one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three miles between Hong Kong and Japan separating her from me.

This, however, is something I never could've wished for. I'd given up hope of Sakura ever letting me back into her life a long time ago. Sure, we'd made an agreement to start over, but I never expected anything like this to happen. For the first time it's like we're finally starting to understand each other.

I let my gaze slip to the emerald eyed beside me for the umpteenth time as she smiles widely, watching Wei transferring the cookies that he just pulled out of the oven onto a metal cooling rack. She's absolutely radiant.

"So, does this mean I'm back to being Syaoran again?"

With a cookie between her teeth, Sakura glares at me. Bringing the still unbitten cookie away from her mouth, she snaps, "Wipe that smile off your face before I change my mind." I immediately drop the happy-go-lucky expression. Satisfied, Sakura brings the cookie to her lips once more and bites it in half. "Mn." Her eyes light up as she chews. Intrigued by her reaction, I reach around her and pick one up. "These cookies are wonderful, Wei. I think we did fairly well, all things considered."

"Agreed. Thank you for your help, Sakura-sama."

"I hate to interrupt," I begin, "but we should probably get started studying now."

She glares at me again. "Must you?"

"Yep. Exams are tomorrow."

"Don't remind me." She picks up another cookie from the wrack. "Now that I think about it, isn't this kind of cramming?"

"That's debatable. We've been studying all month. Just think of this as last minute review."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "Huge difference. Let's just get this over with." She drags her feet as she exits the kitchen, and I gleefully follow behind, picking up a cookie on my way out.

We've been studying for somewhere around three hours when Sakura nearly gives me a heart attack by spontaneously jumping up while I'm in the middle of saying something, and yells, "Lunch Break!" All I can do is stare at her with the textbook I was reading from a second ago still open in my hands. Before I can even turn my head, she's bolted from the room and down the hall.

What just happened?

By the time I've reached the kitchen, Sakura is already there with her arms stretched above her head.

"You do realize that I was in the middle of explaining something, right?"

The emerald-eyed girl looks over at me and rolls her eyes at my reaction. "No big deal."

She grins sweetly, but it's clear she wants something. "So, I don't suppose you want to make lunch for two, do you?"

I sigh and walk over to the fridge. "Sure; why not? What do you have in mind?"

From behind me, Sakura walks up and pokes her head over my shoulder. "Depends. What do you have?"

"Um..." I can't help but glance over my shoulder at her. Focus, Syaoran. She just asked a question. "Well, it's still only lunch, so-"

"Only lunch? Lunch is the most important meal of the day!"

"I think you're confusing it with breakfast."

"Oh... Whatever! No reason not to make something nice," she declares with a wide grin.

"Wait a minute." I shut the door and turn around to face her. "Why are you so eager for something elaborate?" I raise an eyebrow suspiciously. "Does this have something to do with my cooking?"

"Psh, wha-" She crosses her arms and looks anywhere but at me. "No..." One accidental meeting of our eyes, and she finally admits, "Fine, but I mean come on, your omelets are like miniature drops of sunshine." I've never been more fond of my culinary skills than I am right now.

"Miniature drops of what?"

Glaring at me again, she snaps, "Stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing." And it's taking a bit of effort right now, to be honest.

"You're right; what you're doing is way worse. It's the most common form of Syaoran laughing. There it is again! I can see it in your eyes."

"Most common form of 'Syaoran laughing'? You can see it in my eyes?"

"Yes. You hardly ever actually laugh, but you always get that amused look in your eyes."

"Alright, whatever you say."

She shakes her head and redirects us back to the initial conversation. "As I was saying, it would make me super happy if you made something extra delicious for lunch. So," she pauses and grumbles, "will you please make me something?"

Did she actually just say please? This day can not get any weirder... Or better for that matter. Unless she were to suddenly throw her arms around me and confess her undying love, but something's telling me that's just not going to happen.

I take a low bow and say, "As you wish, princess." Righting myself once more, I nearly have to bend over again to conceal my amusement. She has the most dumbfounded look on her face. It takes her a moment to compose herself, but when she does, she begins to look playfully entertained.

Lifting her chin and crossing her arms, she huffs and says, "Good. Now get to it, servant boy." She very dramatically flips her hair and, putting a hand on her hip, struts into the dining room like she's on a runway.

"Right away, your majesty." Even as I bow once more, I keep my eyes trained on her retreating figure.

A minute later when I've finished gathering all of the needed items, Sakura reappears in the doorway and says in the same stuck-up tone, "Servant boy, where has my trusted advisor, Sir Wei, gone off to?"

Sir Wei? This is getting more and more amusing with each sentence that comes out of our mouths.

"Probably out taking care of business. He does do business with Hong Kong, after all."

"Ah!" She seems to pick up on my hint. "So he does. That is all, servant boy."

Before she can turn to go I quickly pipe up, "With all due respect, princess, I believe the term is manservant."

"Preposterous. It is most definitely servant boy."

"Your excellency wounds me. Do I appear a mere boy?"

Sakura's face is beginning to look a bit more pink than it did a minute ago. "Ugh, fine, manservant." She drops the snobbish guise and walks over to me. "Didn't mean to hurt your manly pride." She knocks against my chest with the back of her hand, only to frown and do it again, this time with her eyes on the spot she's coming in contact with. "Geez, what in the world do you eat?"

If she did hurt my 'manly pride', then that just made up for it.

"I don't think it's so much about what I eat as it is how often I excursive. Which is every day." The comment earns me a death glare.

"Seriously?"

"I'm just stating a fact." I innocently rise my hands up, palms towards her.

"It's not what you're saying, it's how you're saying it."

"Which is..."

"Like an arrogant jerk! Just because you're Mr. Perfect, doesn't mean-"

"Whoa, wait! What did you just say?" I wouldn't be able to hide the smirk on my face even if I tried. "Mr. Perfect?" I take it back; the day just got better.

Her face turns completely red. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Funny; I never realized it had more than one meaning."

"Are you trying to tick me off right now?" She looks about ready to punch me in the face at this point. Thankfully, she's not a violent person... Except for when she's throwing erasers at her tutor... Or slapping him on the side of the head... Or threatening to knee him in the genitals. Okay, so maybe she can be violent on occasion, but she wouldn't actually hit anyone with the intention of hurting them.

"Maybe a little, but, in my defense, you are the one who said you missed talking like we used to."

"Already starting to regret that," she says, shaking her head. "As I recall, you weren't typically this outgoing."

"Usually not, but I had my moments. Do you remember that one time when we all went to the amusement park and you made me eat all that cotton candy?"

She emits a sharp gasp. "That's right!" She bursts out laughing at the memory. "I thought you had lost your mind, or been abducted by aliens and brainwashed or something. But, hey, I didn't force you to eat it."

"Yes you-" Oh... Wait a minute... Did she actually insist that I have some, or just offer me it with an irresistibly cute face? I wouldn't have had a say in the matter either way.

At my silence, she nods. "Thought so."

Remembering the topic we strayed from, I ask, "So, tell me again, what was that you were saying about me being Mr. Perfect?"

This time she groans and hangs her head. "I should have just stayed home today."

"Aw, but if you had stayed home we wouldn't have bonded." She looks up and scowls at my tone, so I quickly ask in a more serious voice, "All teasing aside, aren't you even a little happy that we finally got that out of the way? Well, actually, you had to have been with the way you were laughing."

"'All teasing aside,' you say." She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Spare me."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah. And I suppose, even though it wasn't exactly a walk in the park for us to get here, being able to talk to you again is nice." She looks away, mumbling, "Although, it's a little weird talking about what we're talking about."

"You're the one making it awkward right now."

"Well, don't go and point it out!"

"Hey, you're the one who mentioned it in the first place. If you stop thinking about it so hard, it wouldn't seem weird."

"Just change the subject, please!"

"Got it. Now, what exactly about me makes me Mr. Perfect?"

"That's it, I'm going back to the dining room."

As she leaves the room, I call after her, "I can still talk to you without shouting." It requires me to raise my voice a little, but not to the point I'm yelling.

"Just make lunch already, would you?"

I smile. "Alright, alright."

Twenty minutes later, I enter the dining room carrying a plate in each hand. Sakura sits in the same seat she sat last time, with her head in her arms and her eyes closed. No wonder she's been so quiet. I set down the plate in my right hand.

"Sakura." I gently nudge her shoulder. "Come on, Sakura. Wake up." She groans and swats my hand away. "I finished making lunch, but if you don't want any, then I'll just-" Her hand shoots out and grabs the sleeve of my shirt.

"Don't," she groans. "Food."

I set the second plate down across from her and kneel down beside her. The hand holding my shirt slips until it hangs limply beside her. "It's only been twenty minutes, Sakura. You can't be that tired already."

"Go away." She tires to push me away again. This time her hand swats me in the face, making me grimace. I grab her hand to keep it from moving, and shake her shoulder again.

"You need to wake up now, Sakura. The food is going to get cold." I must be getting through to her, because her frown deepens. "It's noodles." Yep. Definitely got through. Her eyes snap open.

"Noodles?" She picks her head up to find the plates of food sitting on the table.

"You bet," I say. Her head whips over to me. She sits up all the way and realizes her hand is in mine.

"Sorry." Sakura's warm hand slips from my grasp. It leaves my own hand feeling strangely empty afterwards, but I shrug it off. "How long did you say I was out?"

"Less than twenty minutes." I rise to my feet long enough to sit back down in my chair.

"Oh. There's just something about this place that seems to-" She yawns.

"I see that."

I pick up the second plate and set it down in front of her. "Thanks. What is this?" She looks curiously at eh noodles, trying to figure out what type they are.

"Try it." I take my chopsticks and begin to eat.

Sakura hesitantly follows suit. Lifting the noodles up in front of her, she blows on them and brings them to her lips. I try not to stare, but totally fail. If she doesn't like them, I don't think I'll ever cook another meal in my life. Thankfully, her eyes widen, and she looks down at the plate then up at me before giving me an enthusiastic thumbs up.

After chewing, she asks, "What did you do? I don't think I've ever had anything quite like this before."

"It's a Chinese dish," I explain. At first I wan't sure if I should make it, but it's quick and easy, so I went for it.

Sakura looks at the noodles as if I've unveiled all their secrets. "That would explain it." She looks up at me and smiles appreciatively. "It's delicious, Syaoran. Thank you."

Yeah, it's official: Best day ever.

Told you it was shorter than usual. Anyways, if anyone is interested, I'm planning on using my profile to not just tell you guys how the chapters are coming along, but also random authors notes that are too long for here. Plus I put in a little section with random things I like. It's super small, though... I'll try to work on that.

Anyways, next chapter is exam week, so expect... I don't even know... Don't worry, though, I won't go into excruciating detail on it.

Final thing, I finally got around to naming the chapters so that it would be easier for all of you to figure out what happened when. Don't know about all of you, but I was having a hard time finding certain events. Hope it helps.

Until next chapter! *Waves*