Lilover131: Did you guys like the last chapter? I'm sorry it took so long to get it up! I HAD to put this chapter up near the 13th though because it's a very special day…SYAORAN'S B-DAY! If you have numerous Syaoran plushies and figures like I do, then tell them happy birthday! Lol. Just kidding. Anyways, YOU GUYS ROCK! I have reached my goal of 150 reviews! Now the new goal is 200! Let's go for it! Anyways, here is chapter twenty-nine!

Cry of a Wolf-Chapter Twenty-eight: Surprises

Yelan walked into the Li garden and smiled at the sight of a slumbering little wolf. Syaoran had been sleeping so much in the past few days because of this new magic. 'I suppose it must wear him out quite a bit' Yelan thought. As she watched him sleep, she remembered a moment from long ago.

Yelan's Flashback

"I don't wanna go to bed!" yelled a little Syaoran. Kyo chased him around the garden so that he could take him upstairs to bed. However, Syaoran was light and agile, which allowed him to run much faster. Kyo continued to run after him, despite the fact that he knew he couldn't catch up.

"Syaoran! You'll get tired eventually! Just go to bed!" Kyo yelled after him. He then began to run faster in hopes to catch up to his fleeing son. Syaoran looked back and noticed his father's increased speed.

"No! I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna!" Syaoran yelled as he began to run much faster. Kyo had long stopped from exhaustion, but Syaoran continued to run in fear of being caught if he stopped. After several minutes, Syaoran slowed to a stop and leaned against the cherry blossom tree. He slowly sat down and before he could protest any further, he had drifted to sleep. Yelan and Kyo smiled at each other from the sight. Carefully, Kyo picked up Syaoran's tiny form and began to carry him up to his bed.

"I told him he would get tired eventually," Kyo said after a gentle laugh. Yelan smiled.

End of Flashback

'He was so small back then…' Yelan thought. He was only three at the time, and now he was fourteen. Even at fourteen, he looked the same when he slept at three. When he fell asleep against this tree, Kyo would always carry him up to his room. Although, it saddened her that he would no longer be able to do that. 'He used to hate going to bed…and now he does without a fight. He used to sleep against this tree until you carried him up to his room…and now you never can…' Yelan started in her head, as if she was speaking to Kyo. 'And now what I wish for the most…is for you to be back here to carry Syaoran up…like you always did. Will you carry him, my love?'. There were several minutes of silence before Yelan looked down sadly. He would never carry Syaoran again. She then noticed Syaoran opened his eyes slightly and looked at her.

" Mother…" he said quietly. He attempted to rise up from the cherry blossom tree trunk he rested against, but failed horribly and fell limply on the soft grass. Within seconds, he was asleep again. Yelan crouched down to her exhausted son, and softly caressed his messy chocolate brown hair.

"I might as well get you to a bed," Yelan said quietly with a smile. She carefully picked up Syaoran, who was very light for his age, and carried him up to his room. She did not go unnoticed however, for the others saw her with Syaoran. He was placed lightly on his bed, while his sword was leaned against the wall. Before leaving the room so that he could rest, Yelan planted a light kiss on Syaoran's forehead.

"Sleep well, Syaoran," Yelan said with a smile.

With the others (several hours later)

"Wow! I can't believe we finally finished everything!" Sakura said in relief. Everyone smiled in success.

"Syaoran will love it!" Feimei said.

"I hope so! We worked so hard to prepare!" Meilin said.

"Wonderful job, ladies!" Eriol commented with a smile. Yelan then walked into the room.

"Did you finish?" Yelan asked.

"Yes!" everyone replied. Yelan examined the preparations.

"You all did an excellent job!" Yelan said. Everyone smiled in thanks.

"We all want Syaoran to be happy," Sakura said, speaking for Eriol, Tomoyo and the others as well.

" Syaoran is lucky to have such wonderful caring friends," Yelan said.

"So now what do we do?" Shieta asked.

"All we can do now is wait for Syaoran to wake up," Tomoyo said.

"That shouldn't be much longer," Yelan said. She had put him on his bed several hours ago.

"It seems that the training wore him out more than I thought it would," Eriol said. The training wasn't that difficult, but Syaoran did use more of his new powers than he has before. Even though Syaoran was tired from using his magic, Yelan was right. He would wake up soon. Until then…they would wait.

With Syaoran

Syaoran tossed and turned on his bed as he once again fell into his dream. He suddenly rose up with a gasp of breath and his body matted with sweat. He had had the same horrible dream again. This time he studied his dream further. He noticed that he had been in so much physical pain. However, the thing that had worried him the most was that he could not recall feeling any emotional pain. Not even after the screams of his friends. He felt no warmth, and all he could feel was anger and rage. This truly disturbed him.

"Am I doing the right thing by training?" Syaoran whispered to himself. He wasn't quite sure what path he was supposed to follow in order to prevent this. 'If the dream has continued…then am I doing something wrong?' Syaoran thought. He was so very confused. His thoughts were interrupted by the growl of his stomach. There was no use trying to think over an empty stomach. 'I might as well get something to eat first'. So to ease his hunger, Syaoran changed out of his robes and left for downstairs. He was surprised to see the entire downstairs was cloaked in darkness. The clock read that it was DEFINITELY not late enough for everybody to be asleep. 'Where is everybody?' Syaoran thought.

"Mother? Sakura? Anybody? Is anybody down here?" Syaoran said through the darkness. There was no response. He continued to walk further until he heard a crashing sound, like that of a vase.

"Who's there?" Syaoran yelled. Still there was no response. 'Is it a robber?' Syaoran thought. Surely if it was one of his friends they would respond. Syaoran did not continue though without picking up a weapon, which happened to be a fire poker. Syaoran slowly inched his way to the living room where the sound had come from, and his hand lay close to the light switch. For a few seconds, he remained still in that position, and then suddenly flicked the lights on. Syaoran prepared to attack an intruder in his home when suddenly…

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled as they rose from their hiding places. Syaoran fell over from shock. Everyone laughed from Syaoran's extreme reaction.

"Hahahahahahahahaha! The kid's got a fire poker!" Kero mocked. Syaoran sat up from his position on the floor and glared at the guardian beast. After seeing Sakura's smile however, he immediately was at ease and began to gaze around. The room was decorated in streamers, ribbons, and balloons in an amazing fashion. The table in the center was arranged with all of his favorite foods and snacks. What lie beside the food was a beautifully decorated cake and several boxes wrapped in green and other assorted colors.

"W-what's this?" Syaoran asked confused. He noticed that his sister's were all wearing the outfits that they had bugged him about earlier during his training. He then remembered how strange everyone was acting today. He saw Tomoyo smile at Sakura brightly before slightly nudging her in his direction. Sakura was blushing and was very shy.

"Syaoran…we all came here to celebrate your birthday this week. However, it was ruined by Naraku's sudden attacks. A birthday is not just presents and a party. The true meaning of a birthday is for your loved ones to show how glad they are that you were born. And we are all very glad that you are here today. To show you that we all care, we are giving you this celebration in which all of us contributed. Syaoran…Happy belated birthday," Sakura said with a bright smile. Syaoran flashed many emotions in his eyes. He had never expected them to do anything like this for him. 'So this is why they were acting so weird and not letting me in the house today' Syaoran thought. All was becoming clear now, only…where did the scream come from? He had long forgotten how his real birthday was trashed by Naraku's attempt to kill him. He then noticed that Sakura's hands were bandaged.

"Sakura…why are your hands bandaged?" he asked as he lightly took hold of her hands to inspect. Sakura blushed.

"She forgot to put on her oven mitts when trying to save the cookies," said Tomoyo with a small giggle. Syaoran's eyes widened for a moment as he gazed to Sakura. 'So that was the scream! Sakura burnt her hands' Syaoran realized. Slowly, his lips formed into a warm smile. He looked touched by her and everyone else's dedication to make him happy.

"Thank you, everyone. This means a lot to me," Syaoran said quietly.

"NOW ARE YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE, OR CAN WE EAT ALREADY?" Kero suddenly said. Everyone looked to him annoyed.

"Kero, that's rude!" Sakura yelled. Kero only moped.

"What? I'm totally dying of starvation here! If I'm dead I can't protect anyone, now can I?" Kero said. Everyone sighed. Kero would never change. They were surprised to hear Syaoran's sudden laughter.

"I'm starving too. Let's eat!" Syaoran said. With that, the entire group headed to the table and filled their plates. Syaoran took something from about every dish. After all, they were all of his favorites! The family and friends all chatted happily as they ate, and nothing seemed to be able to break their happiness. After supper, they went on to opening presents. This gave them some time to ease their stomachs and have room for the cake that Kero was eyeing evilly. Kero would have to wait. The only gifts that were being given were those from Eriol, Tomoyo, Kero & Suppi, and Touya & Yukito (when I say the '&', I mean that the two give one gift from both of them). This was because Yelan, the sisters, and Sakura had already given theirs.

Eriol's gift was a very interesting book written by Clow Reed himself. Syaoran was grateful because this was something he had wanted for a long time now.

Tomoyo's gift was of course one of her specialties…a very unique outfit. This outfit was not casual and was black. The collar was Chinese style, the outfit was sleeveless, and the legs stopped right below his knees a little loosely. Starting at his hips but connected to the top, were two pieces of cloth that flew out behind him with red on the inside (it's kind of like his outfit in the 2nd movie, only it's black, sleeveless, and the bottom stops right below his knees. Also, the bottom is connected to the top. Check out Shadow Syaoran's/Tube Syaoran/the sleeping Syaoran's outfit to see). On the chest was a yin yang symbol. For once, Syaoran actually liked this outfit that Tomoyo made. The design looked like he could easily move about with no difficulties.

Kero and Suppi's gift was something both they and Syaoran loved…chocolate. Kero had tried many different kinds and did not fail to choose the best brand. Suppi had no problems avoiding the tasty treat, but Kero had difficulty restraining himself from eating the entire box. Fortunately for him, Syaoran was in a very good mood and gave him a piece as a thank you.

Last but not least, Touya and Yukito had given him something both useful and greatly needed. From them Syaoran had received various medical herbs and medicines. Yukito had always been the type to give things that were useful. Touya's reason was that Syaoran needed to help himself better and that he got himself into too much trouble.

After cleaning up the wrapping paper and ribbons left over, Syaoran thanked everybody for all of their gifts. Not too long after, they began the cake. The candles were lit and the traditional song was sung. However, Syaoran refused to make a wish off the candles.

"I have nothing to wish for. Everything I could ever want is already here," Syaoran said. So the candles were blown out with no wish. The cake was of course Syaoran's favorite…chocolate. The group all spent the night together in complete peace. Nothing could ruin this night. After they finished eating their cake, they all put in a home video that Feimei had videotaped a long time ago. The title of the video was 'The monster of Hong Kong'. The video started off with the three others sisters moving the little porcelain Chinese dolls in the small little house, which were supposedly the people of Hong Kong. Then a 2-year-old Syaoran, the monster of Hong Kong, rampaged around the little dollhouse.

"Gao! I am a monster! I will eat you!" said the little Syaoran, with 'gao' being his attempt at making a growling sound (if you've seen Misuzu in 'Air', you'll know how cute this sounds ). The sister's began to make the dolls scream in fear and tell Syaoran that their hero would come to their rescue and defeat him. Little Syaoran continued his destruction around the dollhouse when on cue, someone appeared behind him and began a tickle attack. The camera did not view his face, so his identity was still secret. Everyone smiled from hearing Syaoran's childish laughter. Syaoran especially smiled. He knew who this was that attacked him from behind.

"What are you doing, you little monster?" said the voice of the attacker with a kind and playful voice. The camera went upward and finally focused on the face of the holder. The person was indeed Syaoran's father, Kyo.

"We're making a movie," they heard the sister's say. Kyo smiled.

"Really? Because I could've sworn we had a real catastrophe going on here!" Kyo said with a laugh.

"Really?" said Feimei excitedly. Being still a young child, she was very naïve. Kyo nodded.

"Absolutely! It was quite convincing!" Kyo said. The sister's could be heard cheering.

"Well…Syaoran is pretty convincing as a monster," said Fanren teasingly. Syaoran gave her a famous death glare before growling at her and chasing her around the yard as if he really was a monster. Everyone in the living room laughed. Kyo could be seen picking up Syaoran and talking to the rest of his children.

"Well anyways, you'll have to finish filming later. I have a surprise for you," Kyo said. Feimei continued to film, and Syaoran gave a look of confusion.

"What's a surprise?" Syaoran asked. Kyo giggled before answering.

"A surprise is something given to you when you least expect it," Kyo said. Syaoran still looked confused for he titled his head in wonder. The children waited patiently for the surprise Kyo had for them. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out little charms. Each charm had a rectangular stone of their favorite color with their names engraved in gold calligraphy. Connected by a chain on the bottom was a small golden little bell. The sister's loved theirs, but Syaoran poked the bell mysteriously. He had never seen one before. He smiled from the lovely sound it made. The boy looked up to his father with happy big amber eyes.

"I like surprises!" Syaoran said. Kyo laughed.

"Will I get more surprises?" Syaoran asked. His father smiled.

"Life is full of surprises Syaoran," were Kyo's last words before the video ended. The end left everyone with smiles on their faces. Eventually, everyone grew tired and all left to go to bed. Sakura and Syaoran who now sat in the cherry blossom tree by their verandas did not however. The two were once again watching the moon, which now was on the second last day before the half moon would appear. Sakura was leaning her head on Syaoran's shoulder, and he leaned his head on her head.

"Thank you for tonight, Sakura," Syaoran said. Sakura blushed.

"Well…it was Tomoyo's idea. I didn't really do anything," she said. Syaoran picked up his head, looked at her and shook his head.

"No. I can tell you helped a lot. If you did not care deeply, then you wouldn't have hurt your hands for the sake of my happiness," Syaoran said with a smile as he gazed at her hands. Sakura smiled. Tomoyo was right. Someone did appreciate the things she did.

"Do they hurt?" Syaoran asked with concerned eyes.

"Well…Tomoyo took care of them well…so…" Sakura said. Syaoran slowly lifted up her hands and placed a light kiss on each of them. This caused Sakura to blush furiously. His attention soon left her hands however when he saw something on the branch next to him.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, as she noticed the item too. Syaoran picked it up lightly.

"It looks like a note," Syaoran said. Slowly, he read the note. The note read:

Dear Syaoran,

You have grown up so much in the past ten years I've been gone. I wanted to give you this photo to remind you to never lose yourself. Your heart is the most precious thing you have, and being who you are is what makes it live. I wish I could be with you every day, but even though I'm not, I always have and still will watch over you. Take care of yourself and the friends you deeply care about. Happy belated birthday, Syaoran.

Love,

Your father

Syaoran turned the photo around and saw himself at four with his father. They were both smiling and Syaoran was sitting on his father's shoulders. He smiled from the photo.

"What is it? Is it something good?" Sakura asked noticing his smile. Syaoran smiled at her lovingly.

"It's just another surprise," Syaoran said.

Lilover131: How was that chapter? I tried to make it a little longer this time since I took so long and missed Syaoran's b-day deadline. Lol. Darn it! That day was supposed to be perfect! Yay! More S+S! The scene was short, but still cute right? I'll get more in the next one. See you next time!