Some Kind of Magic

Chapter 3






Chapter 3

Sakura glared hard at the wall on her side of the room, on the exact
opposite side of the bed from Syaoran, her arms crossed as she sat brooding on
the carpet near-by. She wondered how long they'd been there. It seemed to be
like an eternity to her. A never-ending, harsh eternity of cold silence. The
longer it lasted the worse Sakura felt. A naturally soft- hearted and caring
individual, her harsh words of the previous hour ate at her insides ruthlessly
until she could no longer stand the torture.

Sakura got to her knees and then peeked cautiously up over the edge of the
bed to the Clow Descendant's side of the room. He sat with his back to the wall
and facing her, with head bowed and one knee drawn up to his chest, the other
leg stretched out. One muscled arm was resting on the drawn knee at the elbow,
fist clenched. His shaggy bangs hung down in disheveled tendrils and hid his
expression from her, his mood indiscernible.

"Syaoran?"

At the sound of her softly warbling voice his head jerked up, amber eyes
faintly widened with surprise and then narrowed again with suspicion.

"Yeah?" he fair grunted, expression guarded now, cold. Sakura
sniffled a little at the wetness she could still feel in her nose, eyes falling
away to stare at the coverlets below her as her fingers idly traced the lacy
patte

"I . . . I-I'm sorry, Syaoran," she finally mumbled, feeling her
eyes tear again and desperately fought against it. She was such a cry baby
sometimes! Sakura reached up and hastily swiped the moisture from her eyes and
released a shaky breath. "S-sorry about calling you a h-hermit and
all." She felt her hair slide down around her face from either side as her
head bowed further, eyes watering even more. "I didn't mean it,"
Sakura continued in a tiny voice. "It's just that . . . when you left and
never came back . . . ."

"Don't worry about it," he suddenly called, voice sounding
somewhat uncomfortable, gruff. She glanced up, blinking the moisture from her
eyes to see Syaoran staring off to the side somewhere and not meeting her gaze,
rubbing at the back of his neck with a faint hint of crimson on the high line
of his cheeks.

"What?" she questioned, somewhat dumbly and he sighed rather
loudly, expression still tense but not near as cold as before. Just . . .
neutral.

"Don't worry about apologizing," he reiterated. "Both of us
said some pretty mean stuff, it's over now. Just forget about it. What we
should be worrying about is how to get out of this stupid room."

Sakura smiled, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. THIS Syaoran was
more familiar to her.

"How did we even end up in here?" he continued tse ase aloud, at
which Sakura shrugged.

"I dunno. One minute I was sitting underneath my window getting ready
to go to bed and I got this really weird feeling that . . . that you might be
in danger. And then the next thing I knew I was falling and then you caught
me."

Sakura didn't notice Syaoran's uncomfortable blush get darker.

"Yeah, something like that happened to me. Th-the danger thing, I mean.
As you so delicately put it earlier,as fas finishing up my evening training
session and then I got this sensation that YOU might be in danger, and then I
was here."

"Who d'you suppose did this? It wasn't me," Sakura was quick to
announce, frowning, which caused that tiny hint of a smirk to pull at the
corner of his mouth.

"Dunno . . . must be some kind of magic though," Syaoran murmured
afterward, stating the obvious. Then his faint smile fell into another moody
scowl. "And how much you wanna bet that that NOSY, ARROGANT little f--
-" he stopped suddenly, glanced over at her with another faint coloring on
his cheeks, then cleared his throat and continued. "What I mean to say is
. . . maybe Eli had something to do with it."

"Eli?" Sakura questioned, confused. "Why would Eli want to
trap us in a room together?" Syaoran scowled again.

"Since when does that little sh . . .dirt-for-brains need a logical
excuse for anything?"

~~*~~


In other parts of the mansion, Ruby Moon was holding on for dear-life to the
long robe that her Master wore, her heels digging in and only managing to slow
down his furious stride somewhat.

"Where's my staff?!" he growled low, blue eyes narrowed to frigid
slits of rage.

"MASTER!" she yelled out, gritting her teeth. "You CAN'T kill
your own descendant!"

"Watch me!" was his snarling reply. Ruby skid further, then turned
to look at Spinel-Sun, who hadn't budged.

"A little help here Spinner!" she shrieked desperately, which
Spinel stoutly ignored, merely heaving a bored sigh and turning another page in
his book.

Abruptly Eli stopped dead in his tracks, causing Ruby to loose her grip and
then go flying back onto the floor in a heap. One half (the better half he
often boasted) of the reincarnation of the great Clow Reed whirled back
suddenly to the mirror instead, long blue hair whipping out wildly with his
motions. And then, as his two guardians watched on with mixed expressions of
surprise and trepidation, a slow forming, entirely evil sort of smirk formed
across his lips.

Ruby blinked in shock and Spinel-Sun merely groaned, then turned back to his
reading, deciding he'd rather not know what was coming next.

~~*~~


"Well, I'm certain that once we're gone for long enough, our families will
come looking for us," Sakura suddenly assured voice confident and smile
wide, to try and help reassure him further. "I know Yue and Kero will
sense something wrong and come help us."

Syaoran nodded slightly to indicate he'd heard and agreed, then sighed again
and did his best to get comfortable. He might end up being stuck in here for a
while, it seemed. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice at first that Sakura
had rounded the bed and come in front of him until he heard her sigh, the noise
much nearer than before.

Stiffening with a slight jerk, Syaoran turned to see the gorgeous young
female slowly easing herself down onto the floor with her back to the bed,
right in front of him. She shoved theay say strands of long honey- brown hair
over her shoulders and carefully situated the short skirt of her thin gown as
she did so, unmindful of his suddenly avid stare. And he quickly averted it
before she noticed, glaring, uncomfortable with the enormous lump he could feel
forming in his throat. That one among others.

At first, Syaoran didn't pay any mind to the slight dip in the temperature,
pretending to be VERY interested in the floor between his legs. But then when
he started seeing his breath puff out in steams before his face, he took
notice. He looked up, brows furrowed, just in time for Sakura to give a violent
shiver and rub at her pale and visibly goose- bumped arms.

"Geez, it sure got cold in here all of a sudden, didn't it?"

Syaoran didn't hear her. He was two busy staring at the two hardened little
nubs that the suddenly fierce cold had made of the tips of her breasts, which
were revealed quite nicely by the extra-fine material of her sky-blue
nightgown. His mouth went bone dry in an instant. Sakura, completely oblivious,
lifted up slightly and grabbed for the cover on the bed behind her, causing to
Syaoran to choke slightly as her chest thrust out with an invitation to
damnation itself.

"There's only one blanket here," Sakura suddenly called, voice
faintly confused and maybe a little piqued. Then she shrugged, unproturbed.
"Oh well, guess we'll have to share."

~~*~~


Eli sighed happily, smug grin on his face after he'd completed his spell and
saw the rewards he had reaped, while Ruby Moon just crossed her arms and
frowned.

"Master, you are one evil SOB, you know that?"

"Thanks, Ruby," he murmured, then turned back to reclaim his seat
to continue watching the show and see what else came of his brilliantly clever
maneuver.

~~*~~


Sakura wondered at Syaoran's suddenly choked look, as if he'd just swallowed
something and it'd gone down the wrong tube. He even coughed a little, his face
turning a bright, beat red before drawing both knees up to his chest and
wrapping his arms around them, locking tight at the wrist.

"I don't need the blanket," he assured stiffly, expression
vehement.

"But you'll freeze," she tried to protest, which made him shake
his head firmly, brown hair tossing a little with the force put behind it.

"I'm fine," Syaoran insisted stubbornly, even as he started to
shiver uncontrollably. The temperature had to have dropped at least down below
thirty, and the only thing he was wearing was his thin wool gi pants. Sakura
frowned, then got to her knees and crawled closer to him, dragging the blanket
with her. She didn't notice his amber eyes flare wide to the limits.

"Sakura what are you DOING?" he demanded roughly, nostrils faintly
flared and staring at her like a wounded animal.

"I'm not going to sit over there with the only blanket all nice and
warm and watch you freeze to death," she announced primly, giving him a
stubborn look, brilliant green eyes flashing a little dangerously.

"But Sakura," he began, in nearly a whine, and Sakura interrupted
him with a glare.

"Don't 'but Sakura' me, Li Syaoran! Move your legs."

"What're you gonna do?" he demanded, distrustful note in his
voice.

"Share the blanket, silly, what do you think I'm doing?"

"No," he pronounced firmly, jaw setting. Sakura glared, then
sighed and dropped the heavy woolen blanket away from herself as well.
"Now what're you doing?" he demanded again and she crossed her arms,
nose tilting up slightly.

"If we're not going to share than neither of us will use it. It's only
fair."

Both of their breaths were puffing out visibly now, as a silent battle of
wills ensued. When Sakura began to shiver hard at the cold, Syaoran was forced
to make his decision. With a loud and continuous grumble, he eased his legs
down and apart, then snatched up the blanket and motioned for her to come
closer. Sakura released a happy sigh, hurriedly scooting up and closing the
last few feet between them, eager for warmth. She was certain her lips had to
be turning blue by now.

She smiled, immediately warmed as soon as her skin touched his, his bare
chest seemingly hot to touch, sitting somewhat sideways with both arms wrapped
around his narrow waist and her head pillowed on the broad wall of his chest.
Syaoran drew the blanket up and around them both, tucking it carefully around
them to hold in the body heat. Then sighed and allowed his arms to rest lightly
around her back, his chin resting on the top of her head. Sakura had to blink
slightly, her cheeks pinkening a little as theclescles in his chest and arms
bunched and corded with his movements, the sensation rather stirring for some
reason.

The two remained that way for several minutes, silent and still for the most
part. Finally Sakura could stand herself no longer, so many questions dying to
get loose.

"Syaoran?" she questioned, voice slightly muffled into his throat.


"Hmm?" he murmured, his deep voice rumbling slightly out of his
chest and Sakura shivered a little.

"Um . . ." she swallowed. "Why didn't you ever come
back?"

She felt his frame stiffen a little and winced.

"I just . . . I just want to know what it is that I did wrong,"
she finally blurted, voice growing slightly strained again with emotion.
"I-I know I must have done something to make you just disappear like that
without a word---,"

"Hush," he suddenly commanded, interrupting her and his tone
didn't broke for argument. Sakura obediently fell silent, swallowing hard. She
felt him heave a sigh, then tensed slightly when one of his hands suddenly
laced deep into her hair. "It wasn't your fault Sakura," he murmured,
voice soft and faintly troubled. "I didn't come back here because I
couldn't."

"What do you mean, of coarse you could!" Sakura was quick to
assure, tilting her head back a little to look at him. He just gave her another
one of those haunting little smiles.

"You gonna let me explain or what?"

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Go ahead."

"I wasn't . . . good enough," he admitted after a moment, voice
uncertain, amber eyes falling away slightly. "I wasn't good enough for
you." He sighed. "I'm still not good enough. Not for the Clan. Not
for anything. My pride and my honor are in shreds."

Sakura just stared at him, frowning.

"What on earth are you talking about?" she demanded, even somewhat
huffily. "You're the most dedicated, persistent, devoted person I know!
You have NOTHING to be ashamed of, Syaoran, you never did!"

"I failed my Clan, Sakura!" he snapped, glaring a little.
"The day I failed the Moon Guardian's Trials in the Final Judgment and
lost the chance to Guard the Clow Cards, I made the Li Clan the laughing stock!
How," he paused, voice growing slightly strained, "how could anyone
ever love that?"

"But don't you see?! It never mattered to me!" Tears flooded her
eyes again as Sakura stared up into his amber gold ones. "All I ever
wanted was for you to be my friend Syaoran, for you to love me, and you don't
have to win anything to do that."

There was a slight moment of dead silence again, neither noticing that the
temperature around them had long-since returned to normal. And then, suddenly,
without warning Syaoran dipped and then seized Sakura's startled lips in deep
and hungry kiss.