Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Unappreciated Love ❯ The Date ( Chapter 3 )

Unappreciated Love

by Lyeza

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Cardcaptor Sakura. They belong to Clamp.

Chapter 3: The Date

Next morning, in the dining room.

"So, Sakura. How do you find this place so far?" Fanren asked. They were having breakfast together.

"Its great and most of the people here are really nice and warm," Sakura answered, emphasizing on the word "most".

"I'm glad you like it here, Sakura," Yelan said. Then, turning to Syaoran, "Syaoran, why don't you bring Sakura around the town today? I'm sure you can use this time to get to know each other." She looked directly at Syaoran, silently daring him to protest. She noticed that both Sakura and Syaoran were very tense today (even more so today than yesterday) and she wondered if anything had happened between them yesterday.

"Very well, mother," Syaoran said quietly. Syaoran looked at Sakura to see how she was reacting to this but she seemed to have no reaction at all. "Will eleven o'clock be ok with you?" Syaoran asked Sakura.

"Sure," Sakura simply answered. She seemed to be more interested in playing with her food than listening to him.

A long moment of awkward silence followed as the tension between the couple mounted and became very obvious to everyone present. "So, where is Keroberos, Sakura? Did you bring him along with you? I want to meet him." Fuutie spoke, determined to break up the silence. Seeing Sakura's shocked look, Shiefa laughed and explained, "We know about you being the Card Mistress. You see, we too have magical power. After all, we are the descendants of Clow Reed." Sakura still looked stunned, but as Shiefa's words registered in her, she smiled in understanding and said, "Kero's upstairs. I'll bring him along next time. I'm sure he will be ecstatic," said Sakura, imagining Kero's reaction when he found out that he did not have to hide anymore." The rest of the breakfast remained uneventful.

In the living room,

At exactly eleven o'clock, Syaoran waited impatiently for Sakura, his annoyance growing by the second. She was taking too much time. Didn't she know that he had other better things to do than just entertain her. Ten minutes later, Sakura appeared. "Sorry I'm late. I hope you have not waited too long," Sakura apologised and smiled endearingly.

"Let's just go, ok. I'm not wasting anymore time," Syaoran said coldly and walked out.

Sakura frowned. He really was being difficult. How did she manage to let both Kero and Tomoyo convinced her to give Syaoran another chance. She had even taken extra time to dress carefully and he had hardly glanced at her at all. Sakura sighed. Taking a deep breath, she followed him. "This is going to be a long day," she thought.

In the Limo

"Li san..." Sakura began.

"What is it, Kinomoto?" he asked sharply, regretting it an instant later when he saw Sakura's eyes clouded with hurt. "What is it?" he asked again, gently this time.

"I...I... just want to say that I don't blame you for still keeping you girlfriend even though you are engaged to me," Sakura said.

"Huh???" Syaoran asked, rather confused.

"Yesterday, both Kero and Tomoyo made me understand that you are forced into this engagement by your clan and are still unwilling to give Meiling up since you care for her. As your fiancé, I will not demand that you both break up. You will do it on your own free will. All I want is that you give me a chance to learn more about me and see if we both have what it takes to make our marriage work. Will it be ok with you?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran stared at Sakura unbelievingly. Did he hear her right? After what had happened, she had decided not to be angry with him or hate him and instead, asked him to give their engagement a chance. He did not know what to think. He should be upset that his plan backfired but somehow, a part of him felt extremely relieved that she did not want to break the engagement yet. He was also rather piqued by the fact that Sakura did not seem to be jealous of his relationship with Meiling. He shook his head. "Why the heck was he feeling this way?" he thought.

"Oh... you are unwilling to do so," a disappointed Sakura said, mistaking Syaoran shaking his head as a refusal to her plea.

"No! Umm, I mean yes. I will like to get to know you better," Syaoran said. "What the heck are you doing? This is not part of your plan!!!!!!" his mind screamed.

"Thanks, Li san," Sakura said giving him a dazzling smile that will make any guy's heart melt. (Syaoran no exception, of course).

"Oh, well! I can't do anything about it right now," Syaoran reasoned, not wanting to hurt her; not yet anyway.

The whole day turned out to be so much better than Syaoran could ever hope for. He had a wonderful time with Sakura. For the past few hours, they had went shopping, had a delightful lunch in an expensive restaurant, played at the arcade and now, they were heading to a park which was located close to the beach. Even though he hated to admit, he realised that he was starting to like Sakura more and more. "This was not the way it was supposed to happen. I have to start keeping my distance from Sakura if I want my plan to work," he thought. Syaoran sighed. "Well, that will have to wait," he finally decided. For today, he just wanted to enjoy the whole day with an enchanting girl, who happened to be his unwanted fiancé, by his side.

"I really like Hong Kong. It is so beautiful," Sakura said when they arrived at the park, the awe in her voice was unmistakable. "Just look at this place," she continued. She was looking left and right, admiring the scenery before her. "I'm sure you've come here very often don't you?" Sakura asked turning to Syaoran. For the first time in days, she saw Syaoran with a smile on his face; a true genuine smile.

Syaoran looked at Sakura, smiling. He loves the way, she appreciate things around her. He had always taken his life for granted. "Not really, I seldom come here," he answered. "Why don't we sit over there and watch the sunset," he asked while pointing to a bench. Sakura agreed and followed him.

For a while, they just sat together at the bench silently. It was not a tense silent though, but more of a comfortable one where both just enjoyed the companionship of each other.

Sakura too was rather surprised by how this day turned out. She thought that they would find it hard to get along with each other. Instead, she realised that he is a really wonderful person to be with. He was a great listener, thoughtful, kind and even had a sense of humour that she never thought existed in him. "I'm in love with him," she thought, slightly frightful by that notion, knowing that most probably, he would not reciprocate. She frowned.

"This is so romantic," Syaoran thought with a sigh as he watched the sunset. Syaoran frowned. Where did that thought come from? Since when did he become a softie? He glanced at the Sakura and noticed that she too was frowning. She seemed a little sad and angry over whatever she was thinking about. "What's wrong, Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura's eyes glistened. "He sounded as though he care but did he truly care for me?" wondered Sakura. "No....nothing at all, Li san," said Sakura unconvincingly, turning away from him.

Syaoran was not about to be ignored though. He cupped Sakura's chin and turned her head so that she faced him. "Call me Syaoran. After all, I already call you Sakura, " he said softly.

"Now, tell me what's wrong," he persuaded, losing himself in the bottomless emerald eyes as he stared intensely at her.

"Syaoran..." Sakura pleaded. There was a weird look on his face. Slowly, he closed the gap between their faces. Their lips were inches apart. Sakura closed her eyes, knowing that he wanted to kiss her and waited for the kiss. Just when their lips were about to meet...

"Syaoran!" a female voice called. Syaoran and Sakura quickly broke away from each other. They both had a dazed look on their face. "Syaoran. I'm so glad I found you," Meiling said and threw herself at Syaoran. She looked at Syaoran. He still looked dazed, probably from the near-kiss, but there was also a hint of anger present in his eyes. "Is he angry that he was interrupted or is it because he almost kissed the girl he wanted to hate so much," Meiling thought.

"Meiling..." Syaoran finally said. "What are you doing here?" he asked. He stole a glance at Sakura whose face now devoid of any emotions. What had he been thinking just now? He was supposed to drive her away; not get her closer! He must admit, he really did want to kiss her. "Since when did his life become so complicated," he thought in dismay.

"I went to your house to visit you today but Fanren told me you went to town. I've been looking for you for hours. I miss you," Meiling said, too caught up in the deception that she did not notice Syaoran was looking angrier by the seconds.

Sakura looked at the couple in front of her. An intense sadness mixed with disappointment filled her. She had almost forgotten that he still had a girlfriend. Why oh why did she listen to Kero and Tomoyo when they persuaded her to stay. Life would have been easier if she had just left yesterday. Then she would not have fallen in love... Suddenly she felt very strong magic nearby. She looked around.

In an instant, thick smokes started to appear out of nowhere. It was made even worst now that it was dark. The sun had set and the flickering lights went off. Confusions began to arise as people started shouting in panic and trying to escape from the park. As it was dark, the people ended up stumbling into each other.

Syaoran decided to bring the three of them to safety. "Follow me," he shouted and started to look for the exit. Meiling quickly grabbed Syaoran's hand and followed him. Admists the confusion, he did not notice that Sakura did not follow him and had run in the opposite direction.

Sakura quickly summoned her wand. "Power of Magic, Power of Light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!" She took out a card and shouted, "Glow Card! Light this place up." Then, taking out another card, she said, "Blow this smoke away. Windy!" With Windy's aid, the smoke started to clear. Now that she could see clearly, she headed for the direction of the source of the magic. As she was walking towards a playground, she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

"So, Card Mistress. We finally met," the voice said. Sakura turned and gasped. Not so far away from her, a tall figure stood. He was the scariest man Sakura had ever seen. He was very thin and wrinkled. There were pus oozing from his body and blood was dripping from his mouth. (AN: I can't believe I typed this)

"Who... Who are....you?" Sakura stammered. "and wha...what do yyyyyouuu want?" She was totally frightened.

"I am Toru and I'm here for your power. Prepare to die, Card Mistress," he said throwing a fireball at Sakura. Sakura quickly dodged the attack but he continued throwing more and more fireballs at her.

"Fly!" shouted Sakura and flew higher to avoid being hit by the fireballs.

"You can't escape me, Sakura," Toru said evilly continuing to attack Sakura.

Meanwhile...

Syaoran and Meiling had just managed to exit the park. Amazingly, the smokes seemed to be contained at the park only and there were no signs of fire at all. "This is a work of magic," Syaoran thought. He turned to Sakura to find only Meiling who was also glancing around looking for Sakura. "Where is Sakura?" Syaoran shouted, panicking. His heart was hammering rapidly.

"I don't know," Meiling said, there was concern in her voice.

Syaoran felt for her aura. It came from the park and something was happening to her for her aura was fading drastically. "I have to go in there," Syaoran announced and ran towards the park.

Meiling looked at Syaoran's disappearing figure. "Bring her back, Syaoran," she whispered. Although she did not know Sakura well, she liked Sakura a lot. When this is over, she is going to tell Syaoran that she will not participate in his scheme anymore. She noticed Sakura's sadness and dismay when she had interrupted them. "Sakura loves Syaoran and I know he feels the same way. I'm going to get them together," she concluded.

Back to Sakura and Toru

"This time I won't miss," Toru said and aimed another fireball at Sakura. It hit Sakura and she fell to the ground.

"Firey and Watery, attack Toru at once," Sakura ordered as desperation took over her.

Toru easily evade their attacks and weakened them with his power. The cards became too weak to battle that they returned to their card from. "Is that the best you can do, dear? I thought the cards will be stronger than that," He mocked and attacked Sakura again.

"Shield," Sakura called but she had already used too much power and was too weak to hold up against the attack. The shield broke within minutes.

Toru smiled. He knew victory was within his grasp. "Say your last prayer, Sakura," he warned, and aimed a dark energy towards Sakura.

Sakura closed her eyes knowing she won't stand a chance against the attack.

"Lightning, come forth!" shouted Syaoran and the lightning stopped the dark energy from attacking Sakura.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at her saviour in disbelief. "Syaoran," Sakura whispered and fainted.

Syaoran ran towards Sakura. He cursed himself, realising that he almost lost her. He felt for her pulse. She was still alive but was badly injured. He then turned to Toru, his aura flaring in anger. "You are not getting away with this. Lightning, come forth," he ordered again and this time, the lightning struck Toru.

Toru flinched. Damn the brat for coming to her rescue. He realised that he have to retreat, for now. He then turned to Syaoran who was standing in front of Sakura and said, "I will let you off this time but I will be back." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The smokes surrounding the park too disappeared and the whole park looked like it was before the attack. Syaoran then turned to Sakura, lifted her into his arms and ran out of the park.

"I need to send her to the hospital immediately," he thought, all the while panting with exhaustion.

TO BE CONTINUED...

What will happen to Sakura? Will she survive? Stay tuned for the next chapter ^_^